Before the tournament, the Carrollton native was recently laid off from his job as an airline flight mechanic. He worked on private planes used by various NBA teams to fly from city to city for road contests, but his company went bankrupt as a casualty of the ongoing recession.

Though out of work, the $1,600 buy-in for the Main Event wasn't a foolishly spent gamble. Araya booked an $83,569 win back in October at the Choctaw, providing the necessary confidence to go for the Main Event.

Araya estimated his win delivered more money than he's received in five years of airline mechanical work.

In recent years WSOP Circuit events have produced increasing tournament fields and payouts. The traveling series typically offers a dozen — mostly no-limit Hold 'Em — tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $350 to $1,600 with satellites running as low as $70.

It's more poker bang for the buck when you consider that buy-ins for the traditional WSOP bracelet events in the summer start at $1,000 and go all the way up to $1 million.

The Choctaw Main Event increased in size by more than 20 percent from 2011 levels with 978 players in the field, creating a $1.4 million prize pool.

Current Texas laws frown on casino and public card rooms. With Durant located 10 minutes away from the northeast Texas-Oklahoma border, the Choctaw is frequently swimming with Texas player money.